Running Won't Always Solve Your Problems (Finding Contentment Within).

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I'm sure that most of us have either said or heard someone else say the words; "I need a change of scenery." Maybe you've said or heard another person say something along the lines of; "I need to get away." These are just two examples, but there are many variations of ways for a person to imply that they want to get away. Now I'm a firm believer that a change of scenery is often necessary for growth. I also believe that we all need to get away from time to time. However, I believe that many of us confuse running from away from our problems for simply wanting to get away. We all know by now that we're going to presented with challenges and circumstances in our lives, but instead of just facing them directly, we often just choose to run from them. I believe that much of the need to want to get away stems from a lack of fulfillment from within us. It's almost similar to how when you see people looking for validation and acceptance from others. There is often a lack of contentment that exists within people that do this regularly, and the same applies to those of us that would rather run from our problems over facing them. I'm certain that we all know by now that constantly running from our issues won't always solve them. Facing our problems is always the most difficult option, but regardless of how we choose to handle them, we will likely never be at peace enough to face them if contentment within doesn't exist first.

What is going on people? It is your boy Brad H. back once again, and I'd like to welcome you all to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! As with the usual formula here, I hope that you all have been doing great in your individual lives since the last topic. It is time for another topic, and we have made it to another week of seeking motivation and hope to keep persevering in our lives. As for the weekly soapbox that I use at this point in my topics, I don't really have much to discuss. The NBA Finals ended nearly two weeks ago and as I suspected it would turn out, the Golden State Warriors are the NBA champions for the 2016-17 season. I guess I'll give my thoughts on that real quick. Now I've been pretty open about the fact that I don't care for either one of these teams. However, Golden State deserved to win the title this season in my opinion. I realize that a lot of people feel like they had a superstar team with the addition of Kevin Durant, and I personally believe that to be true. However, we must also remember that the Cleveland Cavaliers have several star players as well, including LeBron James. Now I do believe there is an obvious variance in the two teams when it comes to talent, but we have to remember that the Warriors won a title and went to a second straight NBA Finals before Durant got there. While I do believe that adding him to their roster made them a better team than Cleveland, we cannot ignore the fact that Cleveland also added veteran players to their bench. I only bring this up because I've seen people trying to say that the Warriors needed Durant to beat Cleveland. Again, they beat them two years ago, and I honestly believe they would have beaten them last year had Draymond Green not gotten suspended. The same way that people gave Cleveland their just due last season for winning it all, we have to do the same for the Warriors as well. Congrats goes to the Golden State Warriors. Alright, I'm done talking about the NBA for this season. Football will be here soon, so of course I'll be giving occasional thoughts on that. Now that I've talked about something besides the topic for the week, lets go ahead and get into how running won't always solve our problems.

As with the normal disclaimer that I give on every single topic that I discuss, I want address that we all have different ways of thinking and expressing our opinions. My objective with this and other topics isn't to focus on what is considered to be right or wrong, but rather to inspire and encourage others to see the topic in a manner that they wouldn't normally. It is perfectly fine if anyone happens to disagree with my perspective. All feedback and opinions that anyone may have on this or any of the other topics that I discuss are welcome here. Now for a bit on insight on how the topic for this week came to be. I have to give a lot of credit to one of my cousins' for inspiring this topic. It stemmed from a conversation that I was having with him a few nights ago during a late night drive. He was breaking down a topic that we had been talking about in a manner that I had never even thought about before, and it honestly inspired me. He is a very wise person, so it is not a surprise that he opened up my mind to something that I never considered before. Being that I feel that what he mentioned was something that I think could help others, I figured I would use it as a catalyst to express my thoughts here for others. Like always, anything that I talk about here applies to myself, so I'm in no way implying that I'm above any of this. As with anyone else that is alive and breathing, I face personal struggles as well. The goal is for us to hopefully conquer our struggles together.

Alright, so as I stated earlier, we all have those moments where we feel that we need an escape from our problems. Again, I believe that a change of scenery can be refreshing from time to time. Also, there will be times and situations where a change of scenery can't be avoid. A good example of this is when a kid's parents move from one city to another. The kid doesn't have much of a choice in the matter when it comes to leaving. All of the aforementioned examples deal with running, but not necessarily in a negative way. However, there are also ways that we often run that can be classified as being negative. Furthermore, running doesn't always mean leaving one place for another in the literal sense; it can also mean not wanting to face whatever issues that may be plaguing our lives. Since there are all kind of ways of running from our problems, I want to focus more on what I think may be the best way to avoid running. See when you really think about it, running really doesn't mean much if whatever problems you are having are following you. Problems are a lot like shadows; they pretty much go wherever you go, and you can't escape them as long as they exist. Rather than trying to run from our problems, I think we have to look to find contentment within ourselves.

You may ask yourself, what does being content within have to do with running from problems? From my perspective, being content has quite a bit to do with avoiding problems. You see, when a person is content within themselves, they have an understanding of their problems and how to face them. I believe that these are people that understand that although a person may be able to relocate somewhere else or change up your scenery, you'll never truly be fulfilled if you're not truly content within yourself. In my opinion, this is an issue that most of us suffer from. We have all these problems in our lives, and we feel that just running somewhere else will solve them. I want you to consider this for a second. Imagine someone that is in trouble with the law and have warrants out for their arrest. That person can escape from the city they're in and go somewhere else, but those warrants will follow them regardless of where they go. Similar to the problems that we choose not to ignore and not face, those warrants will never go away, and you'll always be looking over your shoulder no matter where you are. Furthermore, you'll never truly have the peace within that we all seek. You'll never be able to fully enjoy your life because you know that you are just one encounter from having even bigger problems in your life.

So what is the best way for us to find contentment from within? From my perspective, first, I think the obvious thing we have to do is acknowledge that there are issues in our lives. It is always easy to blame others and circumstances, but the hardest thing to do is take a hard look in the mirror at ourselves first. In my opinion, that is a paradigm that needs shifting. Secondly, rather than choosing to run, we have to work on fixing ourselves from the inside out. What I mean by this is that whatever issues that we're dealing with internally, we have to work on correcting them. This is definitely not an easy feat to accomplish, however, is is vital to at the very least put forth an effort to do this. I'll admit that none of what I'm saying here is easy to do, and it's likely more times than not that we will often choose to run rather than confront our problems. The goal here is to hopefully give ourselves the necessary inspiration to tackle whatever issues we're dealing with. Because the truth of the matter whether we like it or not, we will never truly be content or at peace without working on ourselves and like I stated earlier, internal issues will follow us regardless of where we go. The quote that I'm going to leave you all with that I think coincides with this topic is from someone anonymous, or I wasn't able to find the person. But the quote is simple, and I'm sure it is one that you've heard before. It goes; "Running away from your problems is a race you'll never win."

Well we have come to the end of another topic for the week. This was another week of me getting another topic out later than usual, but there was some personal things going on that need addressing first. But like they say, better late than never right? Well I'd like to thank everyone that stopped by for another viewing of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Like always, I hope there was some meaning and understanding that could be gained from this topic. If that doesn't apply to you, or if this topic didn't move you, it is totally fine and I appreciate you still. I hope that everyone has a great weekend, and an even better week ahead. Stay safe wherever you are, and try to be a positive as you can. Take care of one another, and be disciplined and resolute towards whatever aspect of your life that you're trying to improve. Alright, I'm gone, so I'll see you all in the next one. Till then, I wish you all peace and happiness. Peace!

©2017 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Happiness Will Come In Waves (Ride The Waves).

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I think most would agree that the majority of people just want to be happy in life. We all want to be able to enjoy and live our lives on our own terms. We want to be able to do all the things we enjoy without criticism and stress. We want to be healthy and have a stable mind, and we want the same for our families. We just want to be able to live a long and good life that allows us to look back and say that we enjoyed this life to the fullest. Now I'm one of those people that feels that happiness is a choice. This is something that we hear others say often, yet it is something that many people don't utilize. That is a topic for another day. However, although I believe that happiness is a choice, I also understand that in this thing called life that we're living, there will always be ups and downs taking place. There are going be periods in our lives where we're riding the waves of joy, and there are going to be moments where we feel that we've been knocked off of a boat or surfboard by those waves. Those moments, which are the moments in our lives that we mostly prefer not to deal with can deal a huge blow to our faith and belief. We often find that those moments are the ones that have the biggest impact on how we view ourselves in regards to being happy. For those that this may apply to, this is something that we have to work on trying to remedy. Happiness often comes in waves, and we have to learn to be able to ride those waves when they come.

Hello once again my friends! It's your guy Brad H. back once again, and I'd like to welcome everyone to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! As usual, I hope that everyone has been doing pretty good as of late. We've arrived at another week, and I'm back to give my perspective on a topic that I've been thinking about as of late. One of the common themes of this blog has been me talking about the NBA playoffs on the little soapbox that I've given myself on here. So the NBA Finals have been taking place since the last post. As of now, the Cleveland Cavaliers managed to win game 4 and stay alive. In the last post that I wrote, I mentioned how I felt like the Warriors having Kevin Durant on their team in my opinion would put them over the top. That has definitely been the case so far. Durant has been playing like an absolute madman in this years' playoffs, and that especially applies in the finals this year. That said, I want to give my opinion real quick on the whole "super-team" argument that so many people have with Durant joining the Warriors. I like Kevin Durant, and while I do believe that going to Golden State somewhat taints this championship that they are likely to win, I think it is wrong for people to constantly criticize his decision to go there. In my opinion, this whole star players teaming up with other star players to form super-teams started with LeBron James when he decided to go to the Miami Heat. While James did take some heat for his decision, I don't feel that he has taken as much as Durant. I'm personally not a fan of stars teaming with other stars, and I feel it depreciates the game due to lack of competition. However, if people are going to go at Durant, they need to acknowledge that LeBron was the one that started this trend. That's just how I feel about it. Alright, now that I rambled for a bit longer than normal, lets go ahead and talk about this week's topic of happiness.

As with the usual disclaimer that I give on every single topic that I talk about for the week, I want to say that we all have different thoughts, ideas, and opinions. The objective here isn't to focus on what is considered to be right or wrong, but rather to inspire and encourage others to see the topic at hand in a manner that they may normally wouldn't. It's okay if we happen to disagree, or if what I write about doesn't pique others interest. All feedback and opinions that anyone may have on this or any of the other topics I talk about are welcome here. Now as for how this topic came to be, I would mainly credit it to being something that I've been thinking about as of late. It is also something that has become a pretty frequent topic of discussion in some of the conversations that I've had with family members as of late. Besides that, I watched a Youtube video a few nights ago where someone that I can't even remember who it was at this moment was talking about something similar to this. The culmination of all that sparked something within me that told me to come on and talk about this for a bit. As always, anything that I say on here applies to me also. I'm far from perfect, however, I do strive to be one of those people that don't just go around trying to drop advice to others that I don't at the very least heed my own self. The mentality here isn't to judge or condemn, but to rather encourage and inspire if inspiration is needed.

Now this particular topic is one that I've talked about on here before. However, just with anything else in life, there is always new and fresh takes that allow us to explore a topic in a different way. Now as I stated earlier, the majority of us are seeking happiness in life. Happiness is a very good thing right? Now I've already established that I believe happiness is a choice, but despite me having that belief, I know that it is extremely hard to be happy all the time. You can be having the best day in the world right? Things can be going your way for the time being, and then it can all change in an instant. You could receive some bad news that something happened to someone you care for, or you could maybe find out that you have a life changing illness that will affect your quality of life. Hearing things like this aren't going to make you happy at all right? Even if you're having the best day in the world, your mood will change receiving this kind of news. Now this way of thinking is totally subjective to the individual and how they react to receiving bad news. However, I think it is fairly safe to assume that regardless of how well you handle bad news, finding it out isn't going to make you feel good. So how exactly does this relate to the riding the waves of happiness? Well, it is my belief that because happiness comes and goes, we have to be willing to ride those those waves while they're happening.

Okay, now you're probably saying to yourself; "Brad H. what do you mean ride the waves while they're happening?" It's pretty much a comparison to how surfers ride waves when they're surfing. I've never been a surfer, but we all know how surfers excel when they're surfing on smoother waves of water. Then they have those instances where a huge wave comes in and knocks them off of their surfboard. For those of us that aren't surfers, those big waves that knock us off are similar to the unpredictable issues that come our way in life. My thing is that when I say we have to ride the waves of happiness, I'm saying that we have to appreciate and be grateful for those times. We have to be able to see them for what they really are, which are moments. Moments come and go in life, and one moment that you have may be something that you never get another chance to experience. For example, imagine that you've won an award at school or work for something that you excelled in, and you're going to be honored for your achievement. The award that you receive is something that you will be able to treasure for the rest of your life, but being honored is something that happens in the moment. Unless it happens again, that is likely a moment that you will never get back. This is why it is so important to us to live in the moment as much as possible. Moments are similar to quick sparks and flashes; they come and they go.

So how exactly do we ride the waves of happiness? From my perspective, I think it is first important to acknowledge that we'll probably never experience happiness all the time. I think the most we can hope for is to make as much happiness for ourselves as we possibly can. This means trying to have more happy moments than bad ones. Secondly, riding the waves to me means being grateful and showing gratitude for all the good things in life. There are many of us that say that we're grateful to be alive, yet we often complain about how hard our lives are. Yes life is definitely hard at times, but we often focus too much on the bad, rather than being grateful for the good. If you woke up to see a new day, you likely have eyes, ears, etc, which means that you are able to see and hear. Think of all the people out there that can't see or hear and wish they were able to. Think of all the people that are in wheelchairs and will never walk about. See the point that I'm trying to make here is that happiness comes from being grateful for life regardless of how big or small the moments are. So lets try to ride those waves of happiness, because just like anything else in life, they will come and go. The quote that I'm going to leave you all with comes courtesy of emcee stic.man from the group Dead Prez. On his album "The Workout", there's a song called Yoga Mat. He says something at the end of that song that I love. The lyric goes; "Ride the waves and let them pass, don't cling, be detached."

Well I have arrived at the end of another post. I ended up getting this one out later than normal due to a family related emergency yesterday, but I wanted to be sure to finish this since I started it. Thank you all once again for stopping by the another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Like always, I hope there was some meaning and understanding that could be gained from this topic. In the event that wasn't the case for you, your visit and feedback is still welcome and appreciated. I hope you all have a great weekend, and hope you're able to do something fun. There is a lot of bad in the world, but there is so much beauty out there too. Lets try to enjoy it as much as possible. Alright, I'm out everyone, so I'll see you all in the next one. Till then, I wish you all peace and happiness. See you all soon!

©2017 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.